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Translator: uly
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Using Blood Rose as a Sacrifice for a Flashy Comeback Announcement
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= How dare you defy my lord!
Seeing this, Ilryeong let out an enraged shout and tried to leap forward.
But Geon-woo stopped him.
"Hold back! It's been a while, so let me loosen up a bit."
= Huh, yes?! Understood, my lord.
Ilryeong, whose momentum had been cut off mid-leap, awkwardly straightened up.
By then, the greatsword plunging from above and the one-handed sword aiming for his neck were already bearing down on Geon-woo's crown and throat.
"Pfft, what is this, kids' play?"
Even in this dire situation, Geon-woo scoffed dismissively.
He sidestepped one step, twisted his body, and drew his sword from his waist to block the blade targeting his neck.
The greatsword aimed at his head had already been dodged by that same sidestep and twist.
Clang!
"Wha?"
"Tch!"
The user who had swung at his crown barely halted the greatsword and corrected his unbalanced stance, while the one whose sword had been repelled right in front of Geon-woo's neck clicked his tongue.
After that, while Geon-woo watched calmly, the two users leaped back to create distance.
They didn't charge in again right away, instead eyeing him warily.
It was because so many jiangshi still remained by Geon-woo's side.
With their ambush failed, they now had to worry about a swarm attack from the jiangshi.
"Just come at me! I'll handle you both myself."
Geon-woo taunted the two users, flicking the tip of his sword.
But the pair still hesitated, glancing around.
"Hmm, how about this then?"
Geon-woo ordered the remaining jiangshi to join the battlefield where Seomryeong and the others were fighting.
At his command, the lingering jiangshi all rushed forward toward the front lines with Sunryeong and Changryeong.
The jiangshi ignored the greatsword user and one-handed sword user facing off against Geon-woo entirely.
This naturally left just Geon-woo and the two users glaring at each other with swords drawn.
"Fuck, feels like he's totally looking down on us."
"Nah, that bastard's just so cocky he's lost all fear."
The two users wielding the greatsword and one-handed sword flushed red with rising anger at Geon-woo's response.
"I don't know how you figured out who I am or why you're trying to kill me. But in Onblood, does that even matter? Right? If you're weak, you die!"
Someone had probably put them up to it anyway.
And it wasn't as if he couldn't guess who.
Geon-woo had no desire to chat with his enemies.
So shut up and fight!
Swish!
Geon-woo advanced toward the two users, his form stretching out like pulled taffy.
He had moved so quickly that it created an optical illusion of his body elongating.
Clang! Clang!
But the two users receiving his attacks weren't ordinary either, it seemed.
They somehow managed to block Geon-woo's strikes with their greatsword and one-handed sword.
However.
"Not bad. Let's see how long you last!"
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Geon-woo only grew more excited at their reactions to his attacks.
His flurry of strikes came on even faster.
And soon enough.
"That fucker. He's not hitting us—he's hitting our weapons!"
"Yeah! On purpose! You son of a bitch!"
Having weathered Geon-woo's brief barrage, the two realized he was deliberately clashing against their blades.
It was downright mockery.
After the first clash, it wasn't them blocking his sword—it was him striking theirs.
"Hoo, nice! Real nice!"
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Whether the two raged or not, Geon-woo kept loudly hammering their swords while loosening up.
A seven-year hiatus in Onblood.
Plus the unfamiliar feel of this avatar invested with five thousand souls.
This swordplay was decent warm-up for shaking off those cobwebs.
That's all the fight with these two meant to Geon-woo.
"Argh! I'll kill you!"
"You dare toy with us? You fucking bastard!"
It might be a good stretch for Geon-woo, but for them, it was humiliating.
They couldn't hold back their hidden cards any longer, unleashing their reactions in fury.
They activated the characteristic abilities every Onblood avatar received.
Claaang!
"Urgh! Not bad?!"
The first change came when Geon-woo faltered against the greatsword user's attack.
"Stronger now? Feels like three times the power."
"You're dead now, you piece of shit!"
As Geon-woo stepped back with a surprised look, the one-handed sword user charged in, unwilling to be outdone.
A hazy heat shimmer cloaked the one-handed sword user's blade.
Clang, zzzap!
"Whoa, lightning attribute?"
Geon-woo jolted briefly as sparks rode his blade in their clash.
"Where you going?!"
The lightning-attribute user swiftly pursued the startled Geon-woo.
The longer their blades touched, the greater the stun from electrocution—this was the lightning attribute's effect.
Now, colliding with Geon-woo as much as possible was to their advantage.
"Raaah!"
And behind him, the strength-enhanced greatsword user swung as well.
It was a combined assault that looked far more dangerous than before.
"Perfect! I love it!"
But beneath his helmet, Geon-woo grinned brightly.
He was thrilled at the chance to really warm up.
* * *
"Eek! Run!"
"We can't win! That's a top-tier ranker!"
"How do we even beat him?!"
Stagger, stagger, dash!
The flashy ambush by six elite users had been effortlessly thwarted by the jiangshi and Geon-woo.
When the previously idle jiangshi joined in, the tide turned in an instant.
Of the over hundred users, survivors dwindled to around thirty in no time, at which point they abandoned the fight and fled desperately toward the gate.
They realized that if they couldn't cross into Veloca City, they'd die here.
"Argh!"
"Aaack!"
"S-save me!"
"T-take me with—gurk!"
But their retreat came too late.
Of the thirty who had turned from the ridge toward the gate, fewer than ten made it through.
The rest lay strewn along the path from the ridge to the gate.
Most had fallen to Gungryeong's arrows, while a few with heads cleanly severed were Seomryeong's handiwork.
"Gah! D-damn it!"
"To think I'd go out like... ugh! Cough!"
"Pfft! Gaaah!"
Even the high-rankers who stayed to fight till the end were methodically picked off by the jiangshi.
Around then, Geon-woo also subdued his two foes.
The one-handed sword user was already dead with a pierced heart, while the greatsword user had dropped his weapon and clutched his bleeding shoulder, staggering.
"Looks like your boss is dead too?"
Geon-woo pointed to one corner of the battlefield as he addressed the greatsword user.
There lay the tank user, throat slit before he could even unshoulder his shield.
The tank had been instantly deleted by Quelling and Seomryeong's pincer attack the moment the fight began.
"So, mind answering my questions?"
Geon-woo said to the lone remaining greatsword warrior.
"What do you want to know?"
The greatsword user asked through a pain-twisted grimace.
"Obviously, who and why. What else?"
"Who ordered you to attack me? That's what you want to know."
"I've got guesses, but nothing solid. Plus, there are quite a few possibilities. One guy? Several? And if so, who?"
"You think I'll tell you?"
The greatsword user scoffed at Geon-woo's words.
This was Onblood, after all, and his body was just an avatar.
He'd experienced death plenty during demon hunts.
This was just one more instance.
No way he'd betray his guild out of fear over losing an avatar.
"What I want is a deal. Your crew left behind mountains of loot from dying here. Depending on the situation, I could return some of it."
But Geon-woo had anticipated as much.
So he dangled the dead users' items as bait.
"Hmm?"
The greatsword warrior's expression wavered, caught off guard.
They'd mobilized hastily, but it was a hundred regular guildmates plus seven executives.
And the result was near-total annihilation.
Now, those who died here would lose all their gear and possessions.
Normally, surviving guildmates would collect the fallen's items.
Demon hunts rarely meant losing equipment even in death.
Even if an entire hunt team wiped, the guild would send a recovery squad.
But not this time.
Geon-woo would claim everything.
That made their situation dire.
"You'll kill us and loot us too? Think you'll get away with that?"
The greatsword user bellowed at Geon-woo in anger.
"Huh?"
Geon-woo tilted his head, genuinely puzzled by the reaction.
"We're Blood Rose."
The greatsword user declared with guild pride toward the baffled Geon-woo.
But.
"So?"
Geon-woo looked even more confused.
"We're not the whole guild—just what showed up today! If you take our gear and items..."
The greatsword user tried to threaten him, flaunting his guild loyalty.
Geon-woo cut him off midway.
"What bullshit? We've already crossed the line, haven't we? Sure, you think I'm screwed, but I say it's you lot who are. Oh, Blood Rose, right? Easy enough to remember."
Geon-woo smirked at the red rose emblem on the greatsword user's chest.
Why Blood Rose of all things?
Blood Rose—such a cringey, edgelord name.
It even reminded him of someone.
But right now, he was dealing with the greatsword user.
"Cut the crap. Decide if you're trading or not. The better the info, the more I'll return."
With that, Geon-woo gave Ilryeong on his shoulder a command.
'Have the other jiangshi gather the corpses quick and pick up any dropped gear.'
= Shouldn't we strip the gear off the dead ones?
'Leave it. The bodies vanish soon, leaving just what they wore. No need to bother stripping them.'
Avatars vanished via sublimation about five minutes after death.
That five minutes was prime time to revive them on the spot, depending on resources.
Some items could revive dead avatars with soul investment.
Either way, within five to ten minutes, the corpse disappeared, leaving only possessions behind.
Pile the bodies in one spot, and soon you could easily collect everything.
Corpses from the early fight were already starting to fade.
Hurry, or picking up stray gear later would be a hassle.
That's why he'd ordered Ilryeong to move fast.
Ilryeong, who'd only experienced the 1st Expedition with Geon-woo, had never seen dead users and didn't know this.
= Understood, my lord.
At Geon-woo's explanation, Ilryeong shot into the air without complaint.
He flew to the eight scattered jiangshi on the battlefield and began issuing orders.
Only Ilryeong, with his intact soul unlike the others, could command jiangshi in Geon-woo's stead.
That's why he often handled miscellaneous tasks for Geon-woo.
"You won't get what you want from me. Just kill me."
Then, the greatsword user gave his answer to Geon-woo's proposal.
He rejected it and chose death.
Geon-woo nodded at the response.